1. Eat five small meals a day or three larger ones--whichever feels right for you--but try to make your morning and mid-day meals the heaviest while keeping your evening meals light. This makes perfect sense when you think about it. You need proteins and carbs in the morning for energy and to make nutrients available to your body for the work ahead. At lunch, you've still got a half day to face, so eat those carbs and proteins to keep you going. After dinner, you probably won't burn up hundreds of calories, so feed yourself accordingly. Since we need a whole lot of the nutrients that only fruits and veggies can supply, eat those freely all day long.
2. Try not to eat after 8 p.m. Your body does most of its rebuilding, detoxing, and immunity work between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. If you eat a heavy meal late in the day, your body has to busy itself with digestion rather than attending to those very important tasks. People have told us that they've lost weight simply by following this rule. If you're starving an hour after dinner, drink a cup of tea or a few more glasses of water and fantasize about the wonderful breakfast you've got lined up for the next morning. You'll sleep better and enjoy greater immunity. And remember, feeling a bit hungry is a good thing. It makes you aware of the good job your body is doing of burning up the food you've ingested and also makes you feel cleaner, lighter.
3. For women trying to increase their calcium intake, herbal teas are an excellent choice. Green foods are considered to be the best sources of calcium--better than any supplement currently on the market. Nettle, horsetail, sage, red clover, and oatstraw all contain calcium. In addition, if you increase hydrochloric acid production in your stomach, your body will be better able to absorb the calcium you're sending down. You can do this by drinking some lemon juice squeezed into a glass of water after your meal or by drinking dandelion tea. All of those calcium-rich herbs are available in tea bags (Alvita is one brand). You can brew one herbal tea bag and one green tea bag in an 8 oz. glass for a drink that's tastier and extremely healthy.
4. Speaking of lemons....some of us swear by drinking hot lemonade daily. Lemons are naturally anti-viral and anti-bacterial. I squeeze the juice from half a lemon into an 8. oz glass of hot water. Some folks suggest adding maple sugar to this mixture, but I drink it straight up as both a detox and an immunity booster. A few dashes of cayenne pepper added to the lemonade help cut mucus, combat arthritis issues, add antioxidants, and provide cardiovascular benefits. Lemon juice with cayenne is an acquired taste but well worth the effort.
5. Try not to drink water or juices for 20 minutes before or after a meal. There are several reasons for this. Filling your stomach with fluids dilutes the enzymes and acids needed for digestion and therefore slows down the whole process, causing gas and distress. It also can make you feel full before you've taken in all the nutrients you need. An hour later you feel compelled to snack even though the kitchen should be closed for the night. Also, digesting fluids is a different process from digesting solids. Give your stomach a break and let it do one thing at a time and do it well.
No comments:
Post a Comment